Family Matters

PART 2: Chapter Four

It was definitely time for a cut.

"And then one day, she snapped. She took her life in front of me and I could do nothing but watch as she did so. Even as she was dying, even as she was killing herself, she still blamed me. I feel like these nightmares are just my guilty conscience trying to remind me of what happened and I sometimes wonder if it really was my fault..."

At those last words, Hayden was quick to speak up after being silent all this time.

"Don't ever blame yourself for the actions of that person. You were a child, what were you to do when being faced with such a thing? You were scared weren't you? No child is ever prepared to be placed in a situation like that. What she did to you was just horrible and wrong, you shouldn't feel sorry for someone like that" Hayden said.

"Yeah...I know" Ceres said with a slow nod.

"Have you told your brothers...?" Hayden asked and Ceres shook her head in response.

"I know that to some extent all of them hold some kind of resentment towards our mother and I'd rather not deepen it by telling them. They don't need to know the horrible things she did, they already suffered enough from the trauma they experienced from her leaving. Besides, she's dead, what difference does it make now if I tell them? Their anger would have nowhere to go but inside of them. They don't need that kind of stress in their lives"

"Everyone is finally moving forward with their lives and I'll never do anything to put a damper on their happiness" Ceres said and Hayden looked at her clenched fist. Clenched in that small fist was her resolve to never let anything or anyone ruin her family's happiness.

Hayden couldn't believe how selfless Ceres was. However, he could finally understood where it all came from. Ceres wanted nothing more than for others to be happy, to never have to feel the kind of sadness and loneliness that she felt while living with her mother.

She was so kind...it was beyond time for someone to show her that kind of love and respect and Hayden had every intention on doing that.

"Even now, I feel like it's wrong of me to burden you with this kind of stuff..." Ceres said and Hayden just shook his head in disagreement.

"You're not burdening me, not one bit. I told you, that if you ever needed to talk I would always be ready to listen. You have no idea how glad I am that you're opening up to me" Hayden said as he gave a grateful smile to Ceres.

"I can only tell you...I don't think I can muster up the courage to tell anyone else" Ceres admitted as she rested her head on Hayden's chest. She felt even more exhausted after speaking for so long, it's most likely the longest she's ever spoken in her entire life.

"Ceres..." Hayden muttered and Ceres let out a small 'hm?'.

"I want you to stay with me tonight" Hayden said and Ceres looked up at Hayden in surprise.

"Y-You're bold..." she muttered and Hayden simply flicked her forehead.

"Not for that kind of reason. I feel as if there's no way I can let you be by yourself tonight after you told me such things. I just can't help but want to comfort you right now" Hayden said and Ceres smiled.

"I'd appreciate that" She said and hugged Hayden's torso.

She truly was glad for his presence in this very moment.

~ somewhere else ~

"Achoo!!" Kade let out a loud sneeze that startled his wife who was holding Kai next to him.

"Don't tell me you're coming down with a fever? One baby to take care of is enough" Nadine asked and Kade shook his head.

"I feel the very strong urge to object to something..." Kade muttered and Nadine sighed.

"It better not be to changing Kai's diaper because it smells like it's your turn" Nadine said handing off their baby to the even bigger baby known as Kade.

"W-What? My turn...babe, I did it all day yesterday" Kade whined. Nadine merely just chuckled at Kade's complaints.

"And I appreciate that very much, however, I've got some work to finish up. Once that's done, I'll thank you for your hard work properly" Nadine said as she leaned over and pecked Kade's cheek. She also made sure to throw a wink over her shoulder before sauntering out of the living room.

'I don't think I can wait that long...aaaah geez...' Kade thought to himself before looking to his son that was staring back at him.

"Kai, be nice to daddy and don't pee on him this time, okay?" Kade said and suddenly, Kai burped but unfortunately for Kade, there was puke that came with the burp.

"Nasty..."